Court says gay couples can't file taxes jointly in NJ -- yet

By GEOFF MULVIHILLAssociated Press WriterMOUNT LAUREL (AP) -- New Jersey now grants gay couples the same state benefits that married heterosexual couples receive, but that does not mean they can file their tax returns jointly for the 2006 tax year, a court ruled Thursday.

In an unanimous ruling, a three-judge appeals panel affirmed the state's position that the benefits -- at least regarding tax returns -- did not start until Feb. 19, when gay couples were allowed to join in civil unions.

Maureen Quarto and Judith Prichason went to Canada, where gay marriage is legal, to wed in 2003.

The next year, they registered as domestic partners in New Jersey so they could receive the limited benefits the state was allowing then.

Last October, the state Supreme Court ruled that New Jersey had to extend to same-sex couples all the rights that married couples are granted. But the court left it up to lawmakers to work out the mechanism for doing that.

The Legislature decided to enact civil unions, which are essentially marriages in all but name and which previously in place in only Vermont and Connecticut.

Under New Jersey law, Quarto and Prichason were considered to be in a civil union because they are legally married in Canada.

They asked the state if they could file a joint income tax return as a symbolic measure -- even though it would mean paying the state an extra $411.

The state Division of Taxation said no, reasoning that their union was not recognized in the 2006 year and that it could be hard administratively to deal with more couples filing jointly.

The couple sued, saying it was not the law that gave them the right to file joint tax returns, but last year's state Supreme Court decision.

The court, in an opinion by Judge Jack M. Sabatino and a separate concurring opinion by Judge Edwin H. Stern, disagreed and said that ruling the other way might mean many couples could amend their previous tax filings and ask the state for refunds.

It appears the case affects only one year's worth of tax returns for couples like Quarto and Prichason.

In court papers, the state has said it would accept the joint filings from couples with civil unions for the 2007 tax year.